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Monday, May 14, 2012

BPO companies saying bye to big smokes, Capturing Tier III areas

In
the beginning of Christian era, One observation spread all over, that
the India were essentially a greenhouse, which depends only on their
agriculture and a myth of lacking in a spirit of globalisation and
industrialization, is already dispelled.

India
had the distinction of being the world's largest economy via
globalisation in the past few years, as it accounted for about 32.9%
share of world GDP and about 32.5% of the world population. The goods
produced in India had long been exported to far off destinations
across the world. Since independence India has been rapidly
globalised & industrialized. giant industrial concerns are
located at suitable places and not all over the country, they
concentrated only to the metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata
and Chennai, or to some IT hubs like Bengaluru or Chandigarh.

But
we never deny that villagers comprise the core of Indian society and
also represent the real India. And it is for these villagers that we
need to make sure we build a system that delivers basic social
infrastructure in an effective manner. “Lower cost of operations
and better retention of employees are driving growth,” (NASSCOM).
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is first among all, who not
only understood the situation but also they are leading to betterment
of rural India.

BPO
companies are now going away from the big smokes to the small towns
or even to the villages in search of talent as well as to economies
the cost of their operations. Rural BPOs are compelling outsourcing
companies and business ventures due to factors such as availability
of talent, affordable real estate, low attrition rates, cheap labor
and minimal operational costs. According to a NASSCOM survey IT-BPO
firms are set to increase the total rural BPO employee base by more
than 10 times over the next three years.

According
to the Nasscom Regional Director Mr. K. Purushothaman, BPO companies
are moving away to low-cost countries such as the Egypt &
Philippines. If India needs to retain its brand image of world's
outsourcing destination, it will have to explore newer avenues and
areas. “Small towns, Tier-III areas and rural areas are the next
best options for these outsourcing companies. Talent is available in
these rural areas, but it will have to be re-oriented to meet the
requirements of the industry standards,” The challenge, however, is
not just finding skilled workforce. It lies in getting the right
infrastructure, adequate quality power and bandwidth connectivity.
These are certainly worrying factors for BPOs who seek to set up
shops in rural areas.

Nasscom
has been urging the State governments to provide subsidies to help
these companies make a foray into rural India. Nasscom, according to
Mr. Purushothaman, is working with many smaller BPO firms in
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh,
asking them to set up rural BPOs.

“Rural
India holds a lot of potential and talent waiting to be tapped,”
feels Shalabh Jain, Executive Vice-President, Asia Business Unit,
First-source Solutions. The company has partnered Rural-shores to set
up a 135-seat delivery center at Chand, a village in Chhindwara
district of Madhya Pradesh. First-source and Rural-shores have joined
hands to set up this rural office to empower the Indian youth and
create employment opportunities.

Major
BPO companies such as First-source Solutions, Wipro, HDFC, Tata
Group, and Priamal Foundation are making a beeline for rural areas.
These companies are either partnering local NGOs (non-government
organisations) or existing small outfits to set up rural BPOs.

In order
to increase the BPO presence in rural areas, Nasscom, in
collaboration with the ICT (information, communication and
technology) Academy and the State governments, has been inviting BPOs
to set up their centres in rural areas. It has asked these companies
to use the infrastructure and talent available at the government
college campus. This will pare the real estate cost for companies and
also reduce the attrition levels.